The dissolution of the National Assembly

Dissolution allows the President of the Republic to end the term of the deputies and trigger new legislative elections. Used six times under the Fifth Republic, most recently on 9 June 2024, it has a direct effect on the balance of power.

What Article 12 says

Article 12 of the Constitution allows the President to dissolve the National Assembly. It is a power of the President alone: it does not require the countersignature of the Prime Minister. The President need only consult the Prime Minister and the presidents of both assemblies. Their opinions are not binding.

The rules are as follows:

legislative elections take place between twenty and forty days after the dissolution;
the new Assembly meets automatically on the second Thursday after its election;
no new dissolution may occur within the year following these elections;
dissolution is not possible while Article 16 is in force or during an interim presidency.

The Senate cannot be dissolved.

What is dissolution for?

In a parliamentary system, dissolution is the response to a censure motion. It settles a conflict between the executive and the Assembly by giving voters the final say. It can also be used to give a newly elected president a majority.

Six dissolutions under the Fifth Republic

9 October 1962, Charles de Gaulle: after the censure of the Pompidou government. The Gaullists and their allies won a majority.
30 May 1968, Charles de Gaulle: after the May 1968 crisis. His supporters won a large majority.
22 May 1981, François Mitterrand: just after his election. The left won an absolute majority.
14 May 1988, François Mitterrand: after his re-election. The left won a relative majority.
21 April 1997, Jacques Chirac: early dissolution. The left won, opening a period of cohabitation until 2002.
9 June 2024, Emmanuel Macron: on the evening of the European elections.

The latest dissolution: 9 June 2024

On 9 June 2024, the Rassemblement national list came first in the European elections with 31.37% of the vote, compared with 14.60% for the list backed by the presidential majority. That same evening, Emmanuel Macron announced the dissolution of the National Assembly. It was the first dissolution during a five-year term, and the first since 1997.

The snap legislative elections were held on 30 June and 7 July 2024. In the first round, the RN and its allies came first. Between the two rounds, many candidates withdrew to block the RN: the number of three-way contests fell from more than three hundred to 89. In the second round, the New Popular Front won the most seats, ahead of the presidential camp, then the RN and its allies. No bloc reached the absolute majority of 289 seats.

What followed

Gabriel Attal's government remained in office to handle routine affairs over the summer. Michel Barnier was appointed Prime Minister on 5 September 2024. After using Article 49, paragraph 3, on the social security budget, his government was overthrown by a censure motion on 4 December 2024. It was the first censure motion adopted since 1962.

François Bayrou was appointed on 13 December 2024. He staked his government's responsibility on a confidence vote in the Assembly on 8 September 2025 and lost it. Sébastien Lecornu was appointed Prime Minister on 9 September 2025. He resigned on 6 October, then was reappointed on 10 October 2025.

Has there been a dissolution since?

The President regained the power to dissolve the Assembly from July 2025, one year after the snap legislative elections. Several political leaders called for a new dissolution, particularly in the autumn of 2025, and the executive raised the possibility in 2026. As of the date of writing of this article, at the end of October 2026, no new dissolution has been announced. The Assembly elected in July 2024 remains in office.

Without a dissolution, its term runs until 2029. The next president may, if they wish, dissolve the Assembly after their election in 2027, as François Mitterrand did in 1981 and 1988.